The Street

Years ago I made the mistake of telling a firefighter at a controlled burn that they got to have all the fun. He promptly found the littlest turnout gear they could find and sent me in. 4 hours and 3 trips into the building later I stripped out of the bunker pants and jacket, called it the most fun ever and promptly fell asleep. It was a blast, but not as easy as I expected. Part of my paramedic class is to do rotations in the field. I haven't been as diligent with that as I should. I really need to stop procrastinating.

Sitting in triagony you really do see everyone as they come and go. If you are like me and are pretty friendly they stop and chill for a minute. Its a nice break from the monotony. The city EMS supervisor stopped to say Hola last Friday. We shot the shit for a while, he asked about class (the medics think its hysterical that a nurse even wants to be a medic) and he asked when I was going to come ride in teh city with him. Ummm... hows Monday?

Monday it was. It freaking snowed this past weekend, so it was cold as shit and icy when I arrived. A couple of WTF looks from the field providers and it was into the sups truck and away we went. I'm not sure what I expected.... GSW's and MVC's galore driving like a bat outta hell all through the city. Yeah, not so much. There was a lot of dealing with pissed off people, complaints and paperwork. I just wanted to see some damn patients!

We finally squirreled a possible seizure... no shakin and bakin on our arrival. The woman may or may not have had a seizure (ask me if I really cared!) but she was going to the hospital. She walked to the stretcher for the crew and that was that. 

We finally got to drive fast at about 2200. 45 year old dude found down by family. No CPR in progress. Apparently the family kept screaming into the phone and hanging up. We were beyond BFE from the address, but it was fun as hell driving through the city that fast! We arrived about 5 minutes after the ambulance crew. The medic on the truck took one look at us (recognized me from the hospital) and told me to get my ass in there and do the airway. So I tubed while he was on the geezer squeezer and the medic drilled his leg to give drugs. 3 rounds of ACLS drugs, bicarb, narcan (this was dudemans's 16th overdose) and we FINALLY got to call my hospital for cease resuscitation orders. PD had to restrain the son who came screaming into the room as I was turning the monitor off. 

What did I learn from this code??? Always pee before you go on the cardiac arrest!!! Also... firefighters bag too fast. 

We went back to help the crew restock and then back to the streets. A few more complaints and it was time to eat. We were trying to find the Mexican place when we got punched for....another code. This was deep in the ghetto. I walked in the house and there was a smell that I still cannot place. I know there were kerosene heaters everywhere, but there was something else. Girlfriend was naked except for some bright ass turquoise panties. Hubby said she just done fell out. (dfo'd) Unlike the previous code he did do CPR. 

The crew was getting lines and I was drawing drugs as the supervisor went to intubate. This was one of the houses that you really need to check for where you lay before you go to tube. It was that fucking gross. I actually had to check for roaches before I sat down on the floor. The tube was so-so so I got to pull it and throw in a King Airway. We continued to go through a couple rounds of drugs before we called my hospital AGAIN. We stayed with the crew and helped clean up. I think they appreciated that this nurse isn't above getting her hands dirty with them. 

What did I learn from this code??? 1) Always check for roaches 2) Fucking eat when you get a chance! Everything was closed by the time we were done. at 5am I ended up eating a cheeseburger big bite at 7-11 with a Dt Mt Dew and chocolate covered pretzels. What can I say??? Its the breakfast of champions!!!

I left at 6am worn the fuck out. My favorite medic has said that he can dance circles around me in the back of the truck. I respectfully disagree. We will see who is humming the mexican hat dance when this is over!!!